No. 8 Florida State baseball vs. Stanford: Preview, how to watch, game thread
No. 8 Florida State baseball (29-11, 12-6) heads west to take on Stanford (18-19, 7-11) for the first-ever ACC series between the two teams. FSU’s road trip to the west coast is its third in the last two years after the Noles went to Cal at the end of last season and Oregon State for the Corvallis Super Regional.
The Noles come into this series on a five-game winning streak with wins over Stetson and North Florida, along with a sweep over Notre Dame. The key to the success has been FSU’s pitching staff, which ranks second in the ACC in strikeouts and fourth in ERA heading into the weekend, while allowing more than six runs just once in their last five games, including the Seminole bullpen holding UNF to one run on Tuesday. While Bryson Moore is still a question mark for Sunday, Link Jarrett told the local Tallahassee media yesterday that Payton Manca should be in play this weekend if the team chooses to use him.
Along with Manca, multiple other arms in the bullpen are starting to emerge, including Chris Knier, Jake Echols, and Cade O’Leary. It would also not be a surprise to see more of Kevin Mebil and Cooper Whited this weekend against a Stanford lineup that is lefty-heavy. Although it appears the Seminoles are starting to get into a groove, playing in California provides a whole different type of challenge.
Jarrett’s group flew all day Wednesday, from Jacksonville to Atlanta to San Francisco, for a total of 12 hours. Florida State practiced at Stanford yesterday to try to get acclimated, but there is a reason the Cardinal have yet to be swept at home in conference play, despite their record. For those who want to get deep in the numbers, Florida State needs to win all three games this weekend to avoid a drop in its RPI, since Stanford ranks 126th heading into the weekend.
The Noles have their work cut out for them. Stanford is one of the worst teams in the ACC and has only two series wins in its first five. However, the Cardinal may be turning a corner heading into this weekend, with a Sunday win over Miami and a mid-week victory against Santa Clara.